Oil heating is the most common form of heating in the Northeast.
Millions of Americans enjoy the safety, efficiency and economy of today’s oil heat. Of the 8.1 million households in the United States that use oil to heat their homes, 6.3 million households or roughly 78 percent of these exist in the Northeast region of the country.
Most U.S. homes are heated with either furnaces or boilers. Furnaces heat air and distribute the heated air through the house using ducts; boilers heat water, providing either hot water or steam for heating. Steam is distributed via pipes to steam radiators, and hot water can be distributed via baseboard radiators or radiant floor systems, or can heat air via a coil. Steam boilers operate at a higher temperature than hot water boilers, and are inherently less efficient, but high-efficiency versions of all types of furnaces and boilers are currently available.
Oil heated homes warm up quickly and provide even, efficient heat. For every gallon of oil burned, a whopping 138,000 BTUs (British Thermal Units) of heat is generated and the flame temperature of oil heat systems reaches about 3,000￮.
There are about 10 million oil heated homes in the United States; 350,000 of them were built in the past decade.
Types of Oil Heat
An oil fired warm air furnace uses fuel oil burned in a sealed chamber to heat an exchanger. Then with the help of a blower or fan, forces air across the exchanger, into ductwork to warm the structure.
In a hot water (hydronic) boiler system, heated water from the oil-fueled boiler is pumped by a circulator through radiators, radiant tubing or baseboards. In a steam system, water heated in the boiler turns to steam, and the steam moves through radiators to heat the home.
In Radiant Heat systems water is heated in an oil furnace and circulated through your floors, in essence making them large comfortable radiators. Today’s radiant systems can be installed underneath virtually any type of flooring material--wood, tile, even carpet.